Recidivism rates for released prisoners in the United States are among the highest in the developed world and cost the government millions of dollars every year. The United States Department of Justice tracked the arrest, conviction, and incarceration of former inmates for three years after their release from prisons in 15 states for the year of 1994. Patrick A. Langan & David J. Levin, Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 193427 (June 2002). The report revealed that inmates with the highest “re-arrest” rates were motor vehicle thieves (78.8%), those previously incarcerated for possessing or selling stolen property (77.4%), larcenists (74.6%), burglars (74.0%), robbers (70.2%), and those previously incarcerated for possessing, using, or selling illegal weapons (70.2%). The report also shows that, during the same time period, 2.5% of released rapists were arrested for another rape and 1.2% of those who had served time for homicide were arrested for another homicide.
One factor recognized by the present inventors as contributing to such high recidivism rates is the inmates' inability to secure employment upon release. Various governmental programs have attempted to address the employability of former inmates. An example of a government program intended to assist former inmates in obtaining employment is the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program. The WOTC program provides tax credits for hiring a new employee who is a former inmate and satisfies other relevant criteria. As is common with many government programs, however, the WOTC program involves a relatively cumbersome certification process. Accordingly, relatively few employers find sufficient incentive for the potential tax credit given the effort that must be expended to fulfill the regulatory requirements. This is especially true of employers of relatively smaller numbers of employees that do not possess specialized human resource departments.
Some organizations and professionals assist employers in fulfilling the regulatory requirements associated with obtaining tax credits through the program. These organizations or professionals may obtain information concerning a particular employer, the employees (i.e., former inmates), the employees' expected hire dates, their release dates from inmate institutions, and other pertinent details. Using their expertise, the organization or professional calculates the anticipated tax-credits that would be received upon completing the regulatory requirements. The employer pays a percentage of the anticipated tax-credit up front and the organization or professional then completes the regulatory requirements. These organizations and professionals typically direct their services to relatively large organizations, because the potential revenue associated with obtaining tax-credits for a small number of former inmates is typically not sufficiently attractive to small organizations. Hence, the fees paid for such tax services limits the number of employers that can make use of those services.
Another factor recognized by the present inventors as contributing to recidivism is the lack of education among the general inmate population. Education during incarceration increases the chances that former inmates will become productive members of society. In fact, an increasing number of inmate facilities now offer inmates the opportunity to take General Educational Development (GED) and English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. In addition, some inmate facilities also offer inmates vocational education that helps them develop skills leading to post-release jobs.
Yet another factor recognized by the present inventors as contributing to recidivism is the inmates' lack of proper documentation upon release, generally coupled with their inability to follow the procedures required for obtaining those documents (e.g., birth certificate, social security card, identification card, driver's license, etc.). Other issues also recognized by the present inventors as stumbling blocks on an inmate's road to rehabilitation include a lack of access to financial services, difficulties in making housing arrangements, and insufficient contact with family members and friends during the period of incarceration.